Make a day of it in Western Tynedale and visit the 25th Annual Art & Craft Fair in Haltwhistle.

The Masonic Hall in Haltwhistle is not far from the Main Street in Haltwhistle. It is a comfortable, modernised hall with good disabled access and will be well sign posted on the day.

The fair has attracted a varied range of different crafts both from local producers and from across the region. There will be different types and styles of high quality wood products, Metal Products, Knitwear, Candles, Quilting, Digital Art, Cards, Floral Arrangements, Nail Art, Pencil Drawings, Photographs, Embroidery, Stained and Painted Glass, various styles of Jewellery, Paintings, Festive Products and much, much more.

Of particular interest there are two new stall holders who travelling some distance to attend and they are bringing hand crafted leather goods and items made from silk screen printed fabric.

According to the dictionary, a walker is a person who walks, especially for exercise or enjoyment; a rambler is one who walks in the countryside for pleasure and a hiker goes on an extended walk for pleasure. Whichever way you look at it, seeking pleasure is at the heart of all the definitions. The walkers who booked for this Autumn's Haltwhistle Walking Festival probably wondered how much pleasure there could be, when they saw the weather forecast for the first few days!

Over the first weekend, the weather was atrocious and people's waterproof clothing and boots were put through their stiffest challenge. Despite this, the atmosphere on the walks was buoyant, and a strong sense of camaraderie developed between those who had braved the conditions. As the week progressed the weather improved, although conditions underfoot were slower to change. There was more "plodging in clarts" then many had ever experienced! But by the weekend walkers were able to discard their coats and enjoy the sunshine.

The 18th Walking Festival attracted more than 400 bookings. Walkers came from as far afield as Bradford and Belfast, Lincoln, Luton and London, Dumfries and Durham, Warrington and York, and of course from Northumberland and Cumbria. A few visitors stayed with friends and family, but many were booked in the B & Bs, hotels and hostels in the Haltwhistle area.

Haltwhistle Walking Festival "came of age" with the start of the 18th festival last Saturday 8th Ocotber. The weather was dull, overcast, drizzly, misty and miserable, nevertheless the first 25 walkers gathered at 8.30a.m. in Haltwhistle Market Place for a coach journey to Bewcastle.

Spirits were high as old friends greeted each other and new walkers to the festivalwere welcomed. This particular walk started at Bewcastle Church, with its famous 7th century cross, and then followed a route through farmland and forestry roads before climbing over tussocky moorland to Christianbury Crags. These crags consist of small tors of sandstone, eroded over the centuries into a variety of fascinating shapes. It is here that farmers used to collect strickle, small quantities of sand that lie between the rocks which they used to sharpen scythes and other blades.

At the beginning of September the Sound + Vision 35/45 music video competition was launched by
'Northern Film+Media' in partnership with 'Generator'.

The challenge for the North East film makers was to produce a music video from a choice of three songs recorded by up and coming bands in the region. The makers of the video judged to be the best would have the opportunity to produce a music video for Domino Records' solo artist Bill Ryder-Jones, formerly the ex-lead guitarist of The Coral.

The film makers were given just two weeks to make the music videos from the date that the music tracks were made available.

Flashlight films entry for Middlesbrough band Toyger with their song Karl's Diary was selected as one of the finalists shown at an event at the Cluny in Newcastle on 29th September.

It wasn't a smooth process for Flashlight Films as the original plan put together by Matthew Brown was set in outside locations and unfortunately the filming days coincided with the arrival of hurricane weather and at the last minute a new indoor set was hastily found and a new plan put into action.

It is now just only a month until the 25th Annual Art & Craft Fair in Haltwhistle and the event is filling up nicely so is definitely worth putting in your diary so come along to see the variety of crafts that are available.

The event takes place in the Masonic Hall on Banks Terrace in Haltwhistle on Saturday 5th November, between 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. and is set to be just as big as the hall will take.

The venue for the event and is not far from the Main Street in Haltwhistle. It is a comfortable, modernised hall with good disabled access.

The fair is continuing to attract stall holders from near and far and a wide range of cards, jewellery, hand crafted leather goods,stained glass, screen printed fabric goods, photography, wood products, candles, photography, pencil drawings, hand made Christmas decorations and everything you might want to consider as a special present for someone this Christmas.